


Petuny

by RueRambunctious



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Language, Promiscuity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 09:05:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7678423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RueRambunctious/pseuds/RueRambunctious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Petunia made a mistake at Lily's wedding. Or perhaps it was everything else which was the mistake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Petuny

“Tuney? What’s wrong?”

Petunia sighed and continued searching for her underpants. She could write off her stockings but there was no way she was leaving the aftermath of this freak wedding without her underpants!

“Tuney?”

Petunia sighed and looked at the cuddly boy on the bed. He had a wide eyed look on his face that held a mixture of concern for her and fear she was about to reject him. Petunia sighed again. “Have you seen my underpants?”

The boy grinned. “Your pants? Yeah, I saw them last night Tuney.”

“Have you seen them recently?” Petunia asked.

The boy was thoughtful. “No... I’ve just woken up. I can’t remember where they are. They might be back at the hall.”

“The hall?” Petunia exclaimed.

The boy flinched. “Jeez, Tuney, some of us have a hangover.”

*

“Mum? How come Harry has to go to school with the freaks when he didn’t before?”

Petunia turned and looked at her son. He had paused his violent video game and was looking at her with concern. “What makes you ask that, Duddy-kins?”

“Is it catching?” Dudley asked. “Does my tail..? I’m a...”

“No, Diddums,” Petunia said firmly. “You’re not a freak. That’s not how it works.”

“Are you sure?” Dudley pressed. Petunia had paled throughout the conversation and Dudley took this as an indication that she was lying. “Mum!”

“Of course I’m sure,” Petunia confirmed. “My sister was a freak and I’m not, am I dear? It is not catching.”

“Did any of her freaky people give you a tail?” Dudley asked.

Petunia frowned. “No, Duddykins,” she answered. “There was a nasty freak that my sister played with who could be troublesome... but his mother made him stop.”

“Aunt Lily played with another freak?” Dudley said. “Are there lots of them?”

“I met a number of Lily’s freaks before you were born Diddums. There was a scruffy little boy who lived on our street when Lily and I were girls, and I met a lot of ne’er-do-wells at Lily’s wedding.”

“Were you scared Mum?”

Petunia thought. “No. I was upset.”

“Because Aunt Lily was marrying a freak?” Dudley asked.

Petunia swallowed. “Mostly.”

“If Harry marries a freak will I have to go to his wedding?” Dudley asked.

Petunia shook her head. “Of course not Duddykins.”

“Mum?”

“Yes Diddums?”

Dudley resumed his game. “Can I have a sandwich?”

“Of course Duddykins,” Petunia replied. She stood and walked through to the kitchen. As she prepared Dudley’s snack she thought about Lily’s wedding and Petunia’s following conversation with her sister. Lily had turned up on Petunia’s doorstep a fortnight later with that irritatingly earnest expression of her’s.

“Are you alone?” Lily had asked.

“Of course,” Petunia replied. “Vernon is at work.”

“He’s still with you then?” Lily surmised.

“Of course,” Petunia hissed. “Come inside.”

Lily followed Petunia into the longue and sat down quietly. “I noticed you disappeared from the reception,” she said.

Petunia made a pained face. “I left early. I didn’t belong there.”

The comment made Lily sad and she reached for a sweet from the glass bowl on the coffee table before her to fidget with. She twirled it between her fingers and watched the light bounce off of its wrapper. 

“You’re my sister,” Lily said. “But you know that’s not what I’m talking about. I saw you with him.”

Petunia flinched as though she were in pain. “You can’t say that in my husband’s house!”

“Tuney, why are you with Vernon? He’s not like you at all!” Lily protested.

“He is exactly like I am,” Petunia retorted. “He is solid and reliable and respectable. He is never overcome by fancy, unlike your lot. He doesn’t approve of your ways at all.”

“You used to!” Lily retorted. “When we were little and we played together inside, and when you wanted...”

“Yes,” Petunia said stiffly. “But no good comes from wanting what I can’t have. I need to focus on what I’m capable of.”

“And being a good wife to Vernon is what you’re capable of? Is that what you call what you were doing with Peter?”

“I had had far too much to drink and I was foolish. I let myself be awed by all your freakishness. I won’t do it again. I am a perfectly good wife to Vernon because he will never know of my indiscretion.”

“You better have these back then,” Lily replied flatly, pulling a pair of underpants out of her pocket and dropping them on Petunia’s lap. “They were in the reception hall’s car park. You wouldn’t want Vernon to notice them missing.”

Petunia swallowed and bunched them in her bony hand. “As if he would,” she said weakly.

“What?” Lily asked.

“Vernon never notices anything,” Petunia said hoarsely. “I sometimes think that I’m a freak too and that my only ability is invisibility.” Her voice cracked.

Lily dropped the sweet and reached towards her sister empathically. “Tuney...” 

Petunia pushed Lily’s hands away and returned the sweet to the bowl. “Don’t. This is my choice. It’s good for me. Vernon is exactly the sort of husband I should have.”

“No, Petunia, he’s...”

“Enough!” Petunia barked hoarsely. “Just accept my choice Lily.”

“Like you’ve accepted mine?” Lily retorted.

“He’s an arrogant freak. He’s no better than the Snape boy.”

Lily swallowed. “Don’t.”

“Don’t? What can I do, Lily? I have no idea why you broke the little creep’s heart,” Petunia said.

“Don’t call him a creep,” Lily said.

“What were you calling him six months ago?” Petunia sniffed.

“I’m trying to talk about your life choices Tuney, not mine. If you want to examine my mistakes you can do it once you’ve amended your own.”

“I haven’t made any mistakes,” Petunia said.

“Not even Peter?” Lily retorted.

Petunia stood. “Vernon will be home soon. Don’t let him catch you here.”

“Don’t you find it problematic that he doesn’t even let you entertain your sister?” Lily said as she stood.

“He’s an impeccable judge of character,” Petunia said.

“I can see that in his choice of a weak-willed, adulterous wife,” Lily retorted dryly as she walked to the door. “Mother would be ashamed if she knew you hadn’t even offered me a cup of tea, you know.”

“Vernon might notice if I did,” Petunia said.

“He’d notice the smell of tea or a missing teabag? How would he know it wasn’t just for you when he can’t even notice you most of the time?”

“He might notice a broken tea cup because my hands always shake for an hour after your visits,” Petunia replied.

Lily stared at her sister. “I love you. Surely you can tell something’s wrong here?”

“Goodbye, Lily,” Petunia said firmly, opening the front door. “I love you too,” she said softly as she nudged her sister outside.

The sisters did not speak again until Petunia told Lily that she was pregnant. Lily had reluctantly performed charms to ensure the child would resemble Vernon regardless of whom its father may be. Petunia never attempted to ascertain Dudley’s father. She knew from the way Dudley ignored her that he was Vernon’s. But she pretended that Dudley was Peter’s, and she spoiled him rotten.

When Sirius Black had blasted Peter to pieces Petunia cried almost as much as she did for her sister. She ensured she only cried when Vernon was at work and Dudley was at nursery. No one noticed her grief. She was a dutiful wife and mother.

“Mum!” Dudley cried. “Where’s my sandwich?”


End file.
